Corrected entry: Just after Ron says, 'Mails here!', we see the owls dropping various packages to Hogwarts students. The very first owl closeup we see is a brown one and s/he is flying to the right. It's carrying a green package. When the owl drops the package and a student catches it, however, the package has turned blue. (00:53:50)
Super Grover
19th Jul 2009
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
19th Jan 2009
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: In Gringott's, after visiting Harry's vault, as they stand in front of vault 713, a cart passes by on the tracks. In order to do this, it almost certainly would have had to jump the cart Harry and Hagrid had been using.
Correction: The fact that you're speaking of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, which is run by Goblins who have many enchantments in place, is in itself evidence that there really is nothing extraordinary about an enchanted cart travelling within the bank's underground passages, on its interlinked series of tracks.
6th Nov 2008
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: In the reptile house at the zoo, Dudley yells at his parent to come and see what the snake Harry is looking at is doing. The problem is that Dudley is facing the opposite wall when he yells out and hasn't even seen the snakes' enclosure yet.
Correction: The Burmese Python is lying down motionless at the bottom of its enclosure, when Dudley decides it's boring and walks to the exhibit behind Harry. During the conversation with Harry, the snake perks up, raises its head up high, to Harry's shoulder level, then moves about very animatedly when Harry turns to look at the zoo sign and continues talking. The next time we even see Dudley, his head and body are already turned halfway towards Harry's direction, whereupon he shouts for his parents to come see what the snake is doing. It is clear from Dudley's body position that he has just seen the snake's very noticeable actions, as it was speaking to Harry.
7th Aug 2005
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: When the Dursleys and Harry get back from the zoo, Uncle Vernon pushes Harry into the cupboard under the stairs. Vernon talks to Harry through the air vent and there is no cover on the front of the cupboard door to close over the air vent. Yet when Vernon says, "There's no such thing as magic" he closes a cover over the air vent. Where did it come from?
Correction: There is a knob at the center of the exterior vented brass plate, that is attached to an interior plate; the interior piece slides to cover the slats of the exterior vented plate. In the close-up of Harry, when Vernon closes the vent, if you look at the interior of the brass plate and its oval openings, the separate pieces are noticeable.
17th May 2005
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: The keys are flying right behind Harry. He'd never have enough time to fly into the next room, and have Ron and Hermione close the door in time.
27th Aug 2001
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: In the beginning of the movie when the students are first sorted, a little red-headed girl is sorted into Hufflepuff house before Harry. Later in the movie, she is seated at dinner at the same table as Harry, meaning she would have to be in his house, which is Gryffindor. How did she switch houses? (00:44:05 - 02:17:50)
Correction: I have carefully watched both the full-screen and widescreen DVD and this mistake is wrong. Susan Bones, who is played by Eleanor Columbus, is not sitting at the Gryffindor table during the House Cup Feast - EVER. The girl next to Wood is not Susan. The girl next to Lee is not Susan. The girl on the right side of the boy next to Neville is not Susan. All these girls have long hair, but they are not Susan Bones. When the hats are thrown, there is an overhead shot of the Great Hall from the OPPOSITE side of the room, by the huge ornate wood doors. In this shot, at the second table from the left which is Hufflepuff, but could have been misconstrued as the Gryffindor table, which is also second table from the left when the camera is on the opposite side of the room as it was in all the previous shots, there is a girl with long red hair, but she is still not Susan Bones. However, Susan IS clearly visible when Dumbledore changes the decorations in the wide shot from Slytherin/green to Gryffindor/red, she sits fourth down at the Hufflepuff table, almost directly behind Ron. She is also seen throwing her hat in the air as the Hufflepuff table is shown.
26th Aug 2003
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: In the scene with Harry and Voldemort, when Harry puts his hands on Quirrell's face and pushes him against the wall, you can see the wall behind Quirrell is flat, in the next shot there are two large holes in the wall and in the next shot the wall is flat again. (02:12:44)
Correction: The surface of the stone wall within the pillars at the side of the landing that Harry and Quirrell stand on has a distinct texture and look. After Harry lays his hands on Quirrell's face, Quirrell moves backwards and stands in front of the very same wall as in the next two shots when he walks towards Harry while disintegrating. Shadows on the wall and camera angle somewhat alters the appearance of the rocky surface behind Quirrell.
6th Sep 2003
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: During the troll scene, there is a row of hooks in the bathroom. An item (towel or shirt) is hanging on one of the hooks behind Ron as the troll tries to hit Harry with his club and Harry says, "Do something." We next see Ron looking around. Before Ron says, "What," the item on the hook disappears. The item reappears before Ron casts his "wingardium Leviosa" spell. (01:11:13)
Correction: The white cloth hangs on the 4th hook from the right, directly under the torch. In the close-up of Ron that you speak of, the 4th hook and the area below it, is blocked from view behind Ron's body. It cannot be presumed that the cloth is not there, if it is impossible to even see the hook from which it hangs.
22nd May 2004
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: At the end, when Dumbledore is announcing the house cup winner, there is a dark skinned boy behind Ron (on the other table.) But after he announces Ron's extra 50 points he's gone, and there's just a group of girls behind him.
Correction: It is very clear, the same children are behind Ron in ALL the shots, they just move a bit, so some are more visible than others in two shots and Ron receives 50 points.
4th Mar 2004
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: In their first flying lesson they are all lined up standing next to their brooms and when the teacher walks to the end of the line, the camera cuts to her feet walking. The brooms have somehow disappeared on the side closest to the camera in this shot. (00:56:55)
Correction: No. As the camera pans Madame Hooch walking past the students, the broomsticks in the background are beside its owners and there most certainly ARE broomsticks at the FOREGROUND of this shot (belonging to the unseen students, close to the camera). The bristles of the foreground broomsticks appear fairly large in this shot (as they are right in front of the moving camera), whereas the background broomsticks and its bristles appear smaller.
26th Aug 2003
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: In the scene where Harry and Ron have just rushed into McGonagall's classroom, she transfigures from a cat on her desk to herself, walking towards them. In the first shot, we see the left side of her face, and she is not wearing glasses. When the shot changes so that she's facing Harry and Ron and we see the right side of her face, her glasses have appeared out of nowhere. (00:50:55)
Correction: The glasses appear in the SAME shot AS she transforms. In this ONE shot, as she walks towards Ron and Harry, first the left side of her face is visible, then the back of her head and last the right side of her face WITH the glasses, all perfectly visible as she stops right in front of the two boys with the 'McGonagall scowl' on her face, to which Ron exclaims, "That was bloody brilliant!"
26th Aug 2003
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: When Harry, Hermione, and Ron are on their way to Hagrid's cabin after exams, you will notice Hagrid is playing a flute. The actor playing the flute is wearing a red shirt and is very lean. When a close-up is done, Hagrid is wearing a vest and is large again. (01:50:45)
Correction: As Hagrid plays the flute, he wears a vest over a red shirt in both the wide shot as the kids run towards the hut and in the following close-up. He is also not thin in the wide shot.
7th May 2004
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: When four owls are perched on top of Uncle Vernon's car towards the beginning of the film, you can see that one on the left is obviously a painted set prop. (00:10:05)
Correction: No, it is very much alive. It even turns its head as the camera pans past him towards Vernon and Petunia at the front door.
1st Sep 2004
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Corrected entry: At the start where Hagrid hands Harry to Dumbledore, he says "Try not to wake him" but while Dumbledore is taking Harry to the door you can hear the baby gurgling and making noises, yet when he puts him down he is asleep. (00:02:30)
Correction: Hagrid lands, gets off the motorbike and gives the child to Dumbledore. This drastic change will stir any normal sleeping baby, thus the 'stirring' noises from the child. When Hagrid is in the air the vibration and constant hum of the engine helps sooth the baby and keep him asleep. When Dumbledore holds him, the sounds we hear are not of a baby who is necessarily awake, but who is rather just stirring in his interrupted sleep. Actually, the fact that the sound editors added those noises adds a noticeable touch of realism to those shots.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Correction: They are not meant to be the same package. We are shown two tight close-ups of owls - among many other owls, who are delivering/dropping the mail, which merely serve to illustrate this event. The package the first owl releases is green and rectangle, with string tied around the smaller side, and a student catches a larger, blue, square package with string tied around all of its sides. Two shots later we see another owl drop a tan, rectangle package, with a single string and it cuts to yet another student catching an entirely different smaller package. Neither of these are mistakes.
Super Grover ★